“Truth and the People will win the fight, you may be certain! I see the whole of the broad-minded middle class marching like a victorious army”
Ibsen I have discovered is a quintessential examiner of the elements of human nature. He continually reveals through his characters attributes that I have personally overlooked. Ibsen highlights these cognitive-behavioral features through the challenges faced by the protagonist and the environment that envelops him or her. I have found evidence in “An Enemy of the People”
that suggests the significant notion of idealism and how it molds a psyche. An idealist such as Dr. Stockmann constructs his sense of reality through the principle that truth and the facts should conquer naturally. He perceives society as a methodical entity that will follow the path of resolution to his scientific discoveries without question. Through his blind idealism he fails to realize that the situation is one that is more convoluted and involves countless other factors than simply the decontamination of the Baths. This shortsightedness ultimately led to the unfortunate consequence of being labeled “an enemy of the people”.
that suggests the significant notion of idealism and how it molds a psyche. An idealist such as Dr. Stockmann constructs his sense of reality through the principle that truth and the facts should conquer naturally. He perceives society as a methodical entity that will follow the path of resolution to his scientific discoveries without question. Through his blind idealism he fails to realize that the situation is one that is more convoluted and involves countless other factors than simply the decontamination of the Baths. This shortsightedness ultimately led to the unfortunate consequence of being labeled “an enemy of the people”.
This I believe parallels Dr. Stockmann’s daughters refusal to translate the English story for the “People’s Messenger” stating that “the burden of the story is that there is a supernatural power that looks after the so-called good people in this world and makes everything happen for the best in their case-while all the so-called bad people are punished” and that this is never true in reality. In “An Enemy of the People” Ibsen desires to stress the gray area that is ignored in idealism and that there is no black or white. It reminds me of the controversy related to the conviction of individuals that execute criminal acts but are classified as mentally ill. How substantially does the biology of their being influence their actions and should they be punished in accordance to the law? To what limits can our idealist views harmonize with our reality? I am not too sure that there is an answer. I muse that this is what Ibsen was illustrating in “An Enemy of the People” and that the battle between the two does not necessarily have a victor.
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